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Abstract

This qualitative case study of eight veteran Texas Regional Education Service
Center Multicultural/Diversity Trainers examined their perceptions of structural barriers
and teacher resistance to a voluntary program of Multicultural/Diversity Training
(MDT). It also explored how they made sense of their roles in light of their social
locations. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews of the
trainers, observations of MDT sessions, and examination of relevant documents. Data
were analyzed using the constant comparative method.
Three themes associated with structural barriers emerged: contextual factors, lack
of administrative support, and the Texas system of accountability, particularly high
stakes testing. The contextual factors were differences in regional cultures, the autonomy
of the Education Service Centers, and the voluntary nature of MDT. Lack of
administrative support for MDT is crucial because teachers often take administrative
response to school reform as their cue for action or inaction. In Texas, high stakes testing exerts influence at every educational level, particularly on teachers in relation to
curriculum, instruction, student placement and professional development choices.
Teacher resistance to MDT occurred in the training sessions and in the classroom
setting. During the training sessions teachers resisted MDT because it challenged deeply
held beliefs and encouraged self-examination, personal disclosure, and discussions of
race/ethnicity and culture. Resistance in the educational setting was manifested in
maintenance of a Eurocentric perspective, and in school practices such as negative
attitudes toward multicultural education and MDT, placement of students of color in
special education and lower tracks, and negative attitudes toward all people of color.
Ultimately, trainers suggest that they are enmeshed in a system that seeks to
maintain the status quo, and that too many teachers have low expectations for students
who are different from themselves and conform to a deficit model when dealing with
those students.